Hovertravel are to operate a shuttle service for the remainder of today (Friday) – and say an update regarding next week’s timetable is to be issued – following yet more technical issues with the not-so-new hovercraft.
It was on Wednesday evening that Island Flyer hit trouble soon after leaving Ryde. The pilot was forced to swing the craft around and return to port but he didn’t have enough power to get back up the slipway, resulting in the aft end of the craft sitting in the water. Island Flyer was then hauled up the pad by a fork lift.
The cross-Solent operator is now down to just 1 craft, despite there being 3 craft sat at Ryde. Solent Flyer, the sister to Island Flyer, is being relied upon to run the entire service. It is unknown why Freedom 90 is not operating.
Hovertravel say a shuttle service will be in operation from 15:45 to 17:45 departing Ryde and 16:00-18:00 departing Southsea, with departures and arrivals occurring as frequently as possible.
Passengers who do not wish to use the shuttle service can use Wightlink and a Hovertravel member of staff will be at the Wightlink Fast Cat terminal to issue pre-paid vouchers between 15:30 and 19:00. The Hoverbus will operate as normal and, if required, will transfer passengers to catch the Wightlink Cat departures.
If you are travelling from Ryde, all passengers will be accommodated on the shuttle service.
A spokesperson for Hovertravel has said:
“We apologise wholeheartedly for the delay and disruption to your journeys today.
Article continues below this advertisement “Our engineering team is fully focused on the technical issues and working tirelessly on a solution to bring a second craft into service.
“An update regarding next week’s timetable will be issued over the weekend.
“Please note that our weekend service will not be affected, and we will be operating as normal for Saturday and Sunday”.
